By the Rev. Canon W. H. Rich Jones. 



155 



The word " prebend " means literally a " provision " or a " main- 

 ten ance"; it is from the Latin verb " prcebeo" which means to 

 " support." Thus " pra3benda equorum " in Domesday means the 

 " provision " or " provender " of horses — I suppose hay, and the like. 

 " Praebenda asinorum/' in like manner, would mean " asses' pro- 

 vender/' and might, besides hay, include, I suppose, a handful or 

 two of thistles. In fact our word "provender" which comes to us 

 mediately through the French " provendre," is our synonym for it ; 

 and not only so, but is the same word in an English dress. 



Well, then, you will easily see how naturally the term " prebend/' 

 from meaning a provision, came to designate the manor or " estate " 

 which furnished that provision. In olden days there was very little 

 money stirring — people then had no bankers' accounts, or Three Per 

 Cents in which to invest their savings — their riches consisted in 

 their flocks and herds, and wool, and so forth. A great deal of 

 business was done in the way of barter. Naughty people, when 

 fined for some offence were not let off with " five shillings and costs/'' 

 but had to pay in kind — a sheep, or so much corn, or other produce. 

 The word " mulct " is a traditionary memorial of this ; it is derived 

 from a mediaeval Latin word " multo" which means a sheep, and 

 which is of course from the same root as our word " mutton " and 

 the French "mouton" (=sheep) . So the word " pecunia" (= money) 

 is connected with pecus (=cattle). And of course, when people 

 wanted food for themselves, or fodder for their cattle, they had to 

 grow it for themselves. 



As it fared with the people generally, so it fared with the clergy. 

 Tithes were paid in kind ; and more troublesome I fancy they must 

 have been to collect than our " rent-charge in lieu of tithes " now. 

 And as they, no less than their parishioners, needed meat and drink 

 for themselves, and for their cattle (when they were able to keep 

 them), certain small portions of land called "glebes " were assigned 

 to them, in their various parishes. Of course they needed a certain 

 portion of arable land, for their com — of pasture, for their sheep — 

 of meadow, for their hay (and this last must, where possible, have 

 been near a stream) ; and this accounts for the fact that glebe-lands 

 lie so dispersedly, some here and some there. What were called 



